Biggest school ‘delight’ after fortune turnaround

THE largest school in Derbyshire is making ‘significant’ steps in terms of pupil progress, according to a new report.

John Port School, in Main Street, Etwall, revealed that it had made progress with a good showing on the Ofsted School Data Dashboard – which provides a snapshot of a school’s performance for parents and governors.

This comes after last year senior teachers were forced to act after major drops in pupils gaining five GCSEs grade A* to C including maths and English saw the 2,200-pupil school placed among the worst schools in the country.

However, the school’s plan to bounce back has worked and the site has now posted a more impressive set of results.

A spokesman for Ofsted said: “In 2013, 59 per cent of all pupils attained five GCSEs grade A* to C including English and mathematics.

“This is an increase of six percentage points since 2012.

“The survey also showed that 73 per cent of pupils achieved expected progress in English.

“This is an increase of 11 percentage points since 2012.”

There was further joy for the maths department after 70 per cent of all pupils achieved expected progress in mathematics, which was an increase of 14 percentage points.

This meant that the school was placed within the middle banding of schools when compared to others up and down the UK.

The school was also praised for its pupil attendance rate.

During the past 12 months, the rate was 97.2 per cent and, despite this being a drop by 0.1 per cent, it still meant that it was one of top 20 per cent of schools in the entire country.

The education watchdogs also took a close look at whether pupils were making progress, and results showed that 59 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieved expected progress in English, while 74 per cent of other pupils achieved expected progress.

In maths, 59 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieved expected progress, while 71 per cent of other pupils achieved expected progress.

To keep up to date on the school improvements, visit www.johnport.org.uk